Reminiscing
by D-ZombieDragon
Summary: Two years after the apocalypse, and Ellis is reminded of a tragedy that happened ten years earlier... / A dedication to all the victims,survivors and heroes of the 9/11 tragedy. Yes,this story is back up! No flames, please. Any flames will be ignored.


**Hey y'all. This is a oneshot dedicated to all the victims, survivors and heroes of the 9/11 disaster. Hope y'all enjoy.**

**Yes, this story's been put back on! Anyone who wants to flame me will be ignored! Thanks to Clara the Wolf for encouraging me to put this back up! You're great, man!  
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_**Reminiscing**_

It had been two years since the four Survivors had been rescued from that bridge in New Orleans. You would think that one of them, Ellis, would still be happy and optimistic about finally being taken out of that living Hell, but no. In fact, he was feeling the complete opposite.

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><p>The sun rose on a beautiful September morning. Ellis woke up with a feeling of dread as he remembered what the date was.<p>

Ten years. It had been ten years since he had lost his friend.

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><p>At work, Ellis' colleagues were concerned. The usual happy-go-lucky and optimistic twenty-five year-old was now silent and upset. But every time they tried to talk to him, the young mechanic would put on a fake smile and say: "I'm fine, don' worry 'bout me."<p>

After Ellis clocked out that evening, his manager, Peter, picked up the phone and dialed the number for one of Ellis' closest friends.

"_Hello?"_

"Hello. Is this Rochelle?" Peter asked.

"_Yes, who's this?"_ Rochelle replied.

"It's Peter."

"_Ellis' boss?"_

"Yes."

"_What's wrong?"_

"Have you noticed anything odd about Ellis lately?"

He heard Rochelle sigh on the other end. A moment passed before she answered.

"_Actually, yes, I have. He hasn't been his normal self lately. Coach and Nick have also noticed. But no matter how much we try and ask him what's wrong, he just fakes a smile and says that he's fine."_

"He did that at work today, too," Peter added. "Look, I just wanted to ask if you all could just try and ask him what's bugging him."

"_But we've already tried, Peter," _Rochelle pointed out.

"Then try again. I can't stand it when the kid is silent like this."

"_Why don't you try?"_

"I'm not as close to him as you guys are, so please, just give it another try."

He heard Rochelle sigh again.

"_Okay, we'll try again."_

"Thanks, Rochelle. Speak to you soon."

"_Bye."_

The phone went dead.

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><p>As soon as Rochelle ended her call with Peter, she dialed the numbers for Coach and Nick and asked them to come over as soon as they could. They agreed to meet her, as long as she called Ellis to come. She agreed and phoned Ellis.<p>

"_Howdy," _Ellis answered.

Rochelle felt her heart sink at the sound of Ellis' depressed voice.

"Hello, sweetie, it's Rochelle."

"_Oh, hey Ro."_

"Listen, sweetie, would you like to come over this evening for a drink?"

"_I don' know, Ro…"_

"C'mon, Ellis. Coach and Nick are coming."

"_Okay, if y'all are sure…"_

"Of course we are," Rochelle interrupted. "How's seven 'o clock?"

"_Sounds fine," _Ellis replied._ "See y'all then."_

"Bye, sweetie," Rochelle said, ending the call.

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><p>At seven sharp, Ellis rang Rochelle's doorbell. Rochelle answered the door and led him inside to the living-room. Coach and Nick were sitting on the couches. As Ellis sat on a separate couch, Rochelle poured him a glass of water. After he thanked her, she took a seat beside Coach and Nick. She cleared her throat.<p>

"Ellis, you've got to tell us what's been bugging you lately," she said. "And don't say you're okay, 'cause we know you're not."

Ellis looked up at his former teammates, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Do y'all know what the date is?" he asked.

The other three looked at each other. That wasn't the answer they were expecting.

"Uh, I think it's the…uh…eleventh of…uh…September today," Nick answered.

"Do y'all remember what happened ten years ago?" Ellis asked. "In New York?"

"The collapse of the Twin Towers?" Coach asked.

"The 9/11?" Rochelle added.

Ellis nodded.

"What about it, Overalls?" Nick asked.

Tears started falling from Ellis' eyes.

"Me and Keith both went to New York back when we was fifteen in 2001. There was a tour of the Twin Towers on the eleventh of September. Tha' day, I had an off feelin', like somethin' bad was gonna happen. I tried tellin' Keith, but he didn't listen…"

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><p><em>(Flashback – 911/2001 – World Trade Center – 08:40am)_

"_C'mon, El! You've always wanted to see the World Trade Center! Now you're backin' out?" Keith exclaimed._

_Fifteen-year-old Ellis stood facing Keith, arms crossed over his chest._

"_Of course I wanted to see them Twin Towers, but I don' think tha' today's a good day," he said. "I've been havin' an off feelin' ever since we bought tickets for this tour. I don' think we should go up there, Keith."_

_Keith huffed in annoyance._

_Ellis sighed at his best friend._

"_Fine, if you're not gonna listen, then go on without me, and if nothin' goes wrong, I'll buy ya a Coke. But if I'm right-"_

"_I know, I'll buy ya a Coke," Keith interrupted._

_Ellis shook his head and smiled at his friend._

"_Naw, jus' listen to me next time I get an off feelin'," he said._

_Keith laughed and gave Ellis a friendly hug._

"_I'll get ya a souvenir, okay bud?" Keith said._

"_Thanks bud. I'll wait out here," Ellis responded._

_As Keith joined the tour group, he gave Ellis a wave, which the latter happily returned. He watched his friend enter the North Tower and go up the elevator, the off feeling getting worse. He shook it off._

"_I'm losin' my mind here," he muttered to himself. "Keith's gonna be fine. I must stop worrying 'bout some bullshit feelin'."_

_He looked up to the top of the Twin Towers, not knowing that that would be the last time he would ever see his best friend alive._

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><p><em>(Still flashback – 911/2001 – World Trade Center – 08:55am)_

_Ellis watched in complete shock as a loud explosion sounded from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He saw flaming debris, paper, glass, ash; you name it, falling from the tower. Hell, he even saw __**people **__jumping from the tower to avoid being burnt to death. He heard screaming, but the sirens from ambulances, police cars and fire trucks drowned most of them out. He stood right next to the tower in shock, until he felt a hand grab his shoulder. Ellis looked up to find a fire-fighter holding him._

"_C'mon, kid, you gotta get outta here!" the fire-fighter yelled._

"_Wha' happened?" Ellis asked, now out of his transfixed state._

"_A plane crashed into the North Tower! It's dangerous here, you've got to move!"_

"_But-but my friend! He jus' went in there for the tour!" Ellis exclaimed._

"_Sorry, kid, but I cannot allow you to enter this building! We'll do everything in our power to find your friend, okay?"_

"_O-okay."_

"_Good, now get back!"_

_Ellis reluctantly obeyed and moved away from the tower. He looked up at the sound of a plane engine. He watched in complete horror as another plane hit the South Tower._

"_Keith!" Ellis yelled._

_Then he did something so stupid._

_He ran into the North Tower._

_He ran right up to the elevator to find it out of order. In a desperate attempt to get up the tower, he took the stairs. He ran non-stop, holding the bottom of his shirt to his mouth, until he reached the fortieth floor. Panting and out of breath, he made for the stairs to climb higher, but stopped. He heard someone else other than himself panting for breath._

_Bringing the bill of his cap lower to shield his eyes from the smoke, he ran towards __the__ sound. He found a young boy around his age pinned under tons of burning debris. As Ellis got closer, he immediately recognized the young boy._

_It was Keith._

"_Keith!" Ellis yelled, running over to his pinned friend._

_Keith was, amazingly, conscious. He looked up at Ellis as the latter got closer. He tried to speak, but he was already struggling to breathe, let alone talk._

_Ellis immediately started removing the heavy debris. Once he managed, he saw something that told him he was too late._

_A large piece of debris was sticking in Keith's abdomen. Ellis knew that if he tried to pull it out, he would kill his friend, and if he tried to go for help, he would not make it back in time. So all he could do was sit with his friend as the latter drew in pained breaths._

"_Ellis?" Keith weakly asked._

_Ellis snapped his head to look at Keith._

"_Don' talk, bud, you're gonna be okay," he replied._

"_Ellis, you know… (Cough)…as well as I do that I'm… (Cough)…not okay."_

_Ellis looked at him sadly. Keith chuckled slightly._

"_Guess I owe ya… (Cough)…an apology, bud. I shoulda… (Cough)…listened."_

"_It ain't your fault, it was jus' a feelin'."_

_Silence fell over the two. Suddenly, they heard the sound of hurrying footsteps coming up the stairs. Ellis swung around and saw a team of fire-fighters coming up the stairs. The lead man spotted them and ran over. Ellis recognized the lead fire-fighter as the man who told him to back away from the tower downstairs._

"_I thought I told you not to enter the tower!" the fire-fighter exclaimed._

"_Sorry!" Ellis exclaimed. "I had to find my friend!"_

_The fire-fighter sighed. He turned to his fellow fire-fighters and told a couple of them to take the boys back downstairs. Two of them nodded and slowly removed the debris from Keith's abdomen, bandaged him and picked him up. They motioned for Ellis to follow them and they all walked downstairs._

_(End flashback)_

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><p>By the end of the story, Ellis' eyes were red from crying. Rochelle, Nick and Coach looked at each other, feeling very sorry for their young friend.<p>

"Wha' happened after tha', boy?" Coach asked.

Ellis wiped his eyes and looked up at the other three.

"He didn't survive," he muttered softly. "'His injuries were too great,' the doctors said. I shoulda gone with him. Then he wouldn't have been alone…"

As Ellis broke into another sob, the other three looked at each other. Nick sighed.

"Then why do you talk about him so much, Overalls?" he asked.

"I wanted other people to remember him, not jus' me," Ellis whispered after he managed to calm down. "I haven't gone back to New York since. Every year, on the same date, I'm reminded of what happened to Keith."

Rochelle now had tears in her eyes. She took a seat next to Ellis and pulled him into a hug. Ellis tensed for a moment before returning the hug and sobbing on her shoulder. Pretty soon, Coach joined in. Shortly after Coach, Nick decided to join in the group hug.

The three of them knew Ellis will take a long time to heal, but they at least wanted the young Southerner to know that he could at least talk to the three friends he made during the zombie apocalypse that long time ago.

Ellis felt very grateful towards his friends for understanding what he was going through. Hell, they probably also lost friends and family during the 9/11. He knew he would have to move on, but at least he had his three closest friends to help him every step of the way.

***moment of silence***

**I hope y'all enjoyed. I wanted to make a story dedicated to 9/11.**

**Peter is an OC who belongs to me :)  
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**Now, I've put up a vote poll on my profile, if y'all could please check it out. Thanks :)**

**Again, hope y'all enjoyed :)**

**And again, all flames will be ignored!  
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**Until next time  
>D-ZombieDragon<br>**


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